Meaning, by constantly criticising (7,2)
I believe the answer is:
getting at
'meaning' is the definition.
(getting at is a kind of meaning)
'by constantly criticising' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'by' could be 'at' and 'at' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'getting' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for getting at that I've seen is " Bullying".)